


Day 007

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [7]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-01-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:20:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22167757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Relationships: Hawke/Merrill, Male Hawke/Merrill
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 7





	Day 007

Merrill savoured the opportunity to sleep in. Since Hawke and Varric had come by and scared of the last vestiges of the angry mob, things had been quiet. There was still much to do, many of the building had been burned during the Qunari attack or the retaliation, not to mention the elves who had died in that time. But Merrill’s skills were not immediately needed today.

She rose well after the dawn and lit a fire in her herth for tea and boiled grains. As she waited, she began a long overdue tidy of her house. The past week had been hectic and the normal untidiness has turned into a full blown mess. The first thing she picked up was a pair of boots Hawke had gotten her when she first moved to Kirkwall. Merrill smiled remembering how confused Hawke had been when she cut the soles off. If she couldn’t feel the earth, or in the case of Kirkwall the cobblestones, under her feel she felt disconnected from the world around her. The boots themselves were of excellent quality, made by a cobbler from the alienage. That cobbler has been one of many to join the Qun in the weeks leading up to the attack. He wasn’t a fighter but he was more than likely dead now.

There was a knock on her door and Merrill answered it to find a messenger holding a letter for her. It was from Hawke, saying that he was planning to visit in the afternoon. Merrill tipped the messenger, she had learned that that was expected after managing to sour the feelings of half the messengers in Kirkwall towards her. She looked around her home, feeling herself start to panic. Her water was nearly boiling and so far she had managed to pick up, but not put away, one pair of boots. Ignoring her breakfast she set to tossing clothes into the chest by the foot of her bed and piling the books on her shelf. A quick sweep with her broom took care of most of the dirt on the floor. As for the stack of dishes Merrill put them in the room where she kept her eluvian. Hawke never went in there so it was as greeted a place as any to hide things. Merrill let out a gasp when she caught sight of her reflection. Her hair was all over the place and she had sleep in both eyes, she hadn’t laundered her clothes in weeks and they were wrinkled and covered in staines. 

She summoned a ball of water and earth around herself and scrubbed as best she could. She finished by swirling air around herself until she was passably dry and finished off her look by tying her hair back.

Merrill almost didn’t hear the knock on the door that heralded Hawke’s arrival. She sent one last guest of wind around the house to shove anything out of place into the mirror room wincing as she heard her dishes clutter around. She opened the door trying to mimic Isabella’s easy stance.

“Come in and have a seat,” she said. “I really do apologize for the mess but things have just been so hectic here, you understand.”

“Of course,” Hawke said absently. “You should see my room right now, in sure Bodahn is furiously scrubbing everything now that I’m gone.”

Merrill poured some tea but neither of them drank they just stared at the walls behind each other. After what seemed like an eternity Hawke clearers his throat.

“I know things have been awkward between us since…”

Since they had rescued Fenriel from a house of demons. Since Merrill, like an idiot, had tried to make a deal with a pride demons and turned on Hawke. Since Merrill had ruined the best thing that had ever happened to her over an empty promise.

“Things are probably going to get worse before they get better,” Hawke continued. “For the elves,I mean. I just want you to know that if you need my help all you need to do is call for me. Even if I can’t… I don’t want to see you hurt and I won’t abandon the alienage.”

Merrill felt like she should say something, anything, but she couldn’t think what. Every time she opened her mouth she managed to say something wrong, especially around Hawke. She didn’t want to make things worse. She couldn’t bear if she and Hawke weren’t even friends anymore. The others tolerated her at best, except Isabella but she was gone, probably never coming back. Merrill realized Hawke was speaking again and forced herself to pay attention.

“... just send a runner. I’m sorry to have bothered you at home, I… I just needed you to know that I’m here if there’s trouble.” With that he stops and walked out the door. Merrill racked her brain trying to find the right words to say. The ones that would make Hawke love her again, out at least three works to make him trust her again.

But it was too late.

Hawke was already gone.


End file.
